Long-term follow-up evaluation of denervation of the wrist.

Purpose: To evaluate the indications and results of complete wrist denervation and to focus on the correlation between results and length of follow-up evaluation.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 71 complete denervations of the wrist joint in 70 patients with an average follow-up period of 9.6 years (range, 1-23 y) using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. The denervations were performed according to the description by Wilhelm. All patients were asked to provide a DASH score. The indications for surgery were degenerative changes caused by scaphoid nonunions (25), distal radius fracture (11), Kienböck's disease (11), primary degenerative arthritis (9), scapholunate dissociation (8), and others (7).

Results: The average DASH score was 26 (range, 0-88). Thirty-nine patients (40 wrists) reported considerable improvement, 8 reported little improvement, and 10 reported temporary improvement after surgery. Seven experienced no change and 6 experienced worsening after surgery. Twenty-two patients were completely free of pain and 13 (14 wrists) had little, 20 had moderate, 11 had considerable, and 4 had severe pain. Forty-eight patients (49 wrists) stated that they would repeat the denervation and 61 (62 wrists) were able to keep their former occupations. There was a trend toward lower (improved) DASH scores in patients with longer follow-up periods but this did not reach statistical significance. The best results were achieved in patients with scapholunate dissociations and the worst results occurred in old distal radius fractures. Patient age did not influence the results. Nine patients with unsatisfactory results needed a second procedure.

Conclusions: Complete wrist denervation resulted in subjective long-term improvement in two thirds and in a complete or marked pain relief in half of the patients. Patients with longer postoperative time and younger age did not affect the results adversely. This procedure is simple and fast, does not decrease range of motion, and leaves all other surgical options open.

Type Of Study/level Of Evidence: Therapeutic, Level IV.